Manchester Beethoven studies presents ten original chapters by scholars with close ties to the University of Manchester. It throws new light on many aspects of Beethoven's life and works, with a special emphasis on early or little-known compositions such as his concert aria Erste Liebe, his String Quintet Op. 104 and his folksong settings. Biographical elements are prominent in a wide-ranging reassessment of his religious attitudes and beliefs, while Charles Hallé, founder of the Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra, is revealed to have been a tireless and energetic promoter of Beethoven's music in the later nineteenth century.

Reviews

'The index provides the unifying glue and a belvedere from which to reach into the entrails of this very diverse assemblage of Beethoven scholarship that rotates like satellites around the central reference point that is Manchester.'
Rob Barnett, Music Web International

Introduction - Barry Cooper and Matthew Pilcher
1 Beethoven's indebtedness to his teacher Christian Gottlob Neefe: a comparison of their Variations on Themes by
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Kris Worsley
2 Beethoven's Erste Liebe, Himmelslust, WoO 92: sources, languages, text-setting - Matthew Pilcher
3 Situating Beethoven's chamber music with wind: genre, topic and transcription - Martin Harlow
4 Beethoven's variation sets and the role of the slow variation - Artur Pereira
5 A hermeneutic approach to word cues in the score of Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 in G major for pianoforte and orchestra, Op. 58 - Sara Eckerson
6 Born under a gloomy star: new perspectives on Beethoven's String Quintet Op. 104 - Jos van der Zanden
7 Transcending slowness in Beethoven's late style - Marten Noorduin
8 Beethoven's faith and beliefs in the context of his age: some unexplored avenues and reassessments, with special reference to Sailer - Susan Cooper
9 Beethoven's view of Scotland - Barry Cooper
10 Charles Hallé: a Beethoven champion in Manchester - Siân Derry
Index